Easter cakes and bakes shouldn’t be forgotten when it comes to the Easter weekend feast. And, there are so many options, from Simnel cake to hot cross buns to easy Easter biscuits and spring-themed treats. Choose from one of our best Easter cake ideas.
"The Easter holidays are perfect for baking with kids, whether it is to use up excess chocolate over Easter or to make some yummy treats to enjoy over the Easter period," says Ruth Chubb of Three Bears Cookery Club. "Not only is baking with your children a great way to keep them entertained over the holidays, but it also has so many benefits – it prepares them for later life and helps build their confidence and their academic skills, from maths to literacy to science, and you get something yummy at the end!"
Baking an Easter cake is the perfect opportunity to give a classic treat an Easter twist. Whether you're decorating your cake with Creme Eggs with one of our popular Creme Egg recipes or decorating with Mini Eggs too, like ourMini Eggs recipes. It's a good chance to get your kids in the kitchen.
Scoffing copious amounts of chocolate eggs is a crucial activity of any Easter weekend (though there are also lots of other Easter food traditions, lest we forget) and, of course, anything made from chocolate has to be top of the list when it comes to baking. Alas, we have naturally included a lot of choc-based treats in our collection of Easter cakes – including our finest, not-to-be-messed-with Easter chocolate fudge cake.
Our best Easter cake ideas
(Image credit: TI Media Limited)
1. Mini Eggs chocolate nest cake
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
This rich chocolate cake is ingeniously decorated with pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate and a handful of Mini Eggs to make a very convincing Easter nest. "This is a great one for older children to do to impress family and friends," says Ruth Chubb.
A top tip after you've wowed your dinner guests with how fancy it looks is to remove the whole nest from the cake before you slice it, so you don't end up with bits of nest flying all over the table – which would never do.
Get the recipe: Mini Eggs chocolate nest cake
2. Mini Egg cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 30 mins
Never mind topping a cake with a smattering of Mini Eggs, we are taking things to a new level – covering every bit of the surface and sides with them (maybe we should give out a prize for the person with the closest guess as to exactly how many there are?!).
Lashings of Nutella are needed to stick them all in place, of course. And if all that chocolate is slightly too much chocolate (as if), then there's always the option of doing the cake as a vanilla sponge instead, just to mix things up a bit. One of our favourite Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Mini Eggs cake
3. Mini Egg brownie tart
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
This delicious, gooey and rich Mini Egg brownie tart is one of our favourites in this collection. It is so simple to make (but doesn't look it – always our favourite sort of recipe) because you can just buy the pastry case ready-made – though, of course, there's nothing to stop the pastry experts among us from making their own.
Serve it warm after dinner, especially with good quality vanilla ice cream or fresh pouring cream.
Get the recipe: Mini Egg brownie tart
4. Nadiya Hussain’s red berry Simnel cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 2 hours
What Nadiya Hussain can't do with a cake isn't worth knowing about, frankly, and, here, the most successful ever winner of The Great British Bake Off has dared to mess with tradition - with some sterling results. She's taken the classic Simnel cake to the next level by adding fresh fruit in the cake and freeze-dried berries to the marzipan to give it that vivid colour. Purple power.
Get the recipe: Nadiya Hussain's red berry Simnel cake
5. Easter chocolate fudge cake
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 25 minutes
This rich Easter chocolate fudge cake is decorated with Mini Eggs and crumbled Flakes (though feel free to go off-piste and decorate in any way you wish). It's rich and luxurious and feeds at least 12 people.
It's also worthy of getting out your finest china and your best cake stand, don't you think? The top tip we can give you here is to remember to ice and decorate it on the serving plate, to avoid any disasters – it’s almost impossible to move once decorated.
Get the recipe: Easter chocolate fudge cake
6. Creme Egg cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 25 mins | Cook time: 30 minutes
You'll need to get down to the shops in plenty of time before they run out of Creme Eggs for this one. The ganache is made with five eggs, there are another three in the filling, plus three more and you'll also be needing a packet of miniature Creme Eggs for the topping.
But, hey, you can never have too many Creme Eggs, can you? The cake is an easy, simple choc sponge, and overall, it looks rather fancy, wouldn't you agree? One of our most popular Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Creme Egg cake
7. Easter nest cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 25 mins | Cook time: 30 minutes
Why just have mini Easter nests when you can have an entire Easter nest cake? Take a regular sponge cake, cover it with melted chocolate, and press Easter nest mix along the edges.
The nest is made from crushed Shredded Wheat tossed in melted chocolate, and assembling it is messy and very fun. You stick clumps of this to the sides, stacking it up as you go until the whole cake is covered - one for the kids to get stuck in with.
Get the recipe: Easter nest cake
8. Mini Eggs Simnel cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 1 hr 40 mins
Traditional Simnel cake is usually decorated with 11 marzipan balls to represent the Apostles, but we're rewriting the rule book and also adding Mini Eggs to the decoration – because, surely, there is absolutely nothing that isn't made better with the addition of Mini Eggs?
It might encourage kids who wouldn't normally partake in a slice of simnel cake to get stuck in (though there is a flaw in this plan, as it will leave less for us adults...). One of our best Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Mini Eggs Simnel cake
9. Happy Easter cake
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
Top a delicious chocolate cake with seasonal decorations to turn it into a worthy dessert for an Easter Sunday. Filled with buttercream and topped with pretty pastel flowers and Maltesers, it could also easily be a cake for a Spring birthday. Get your poshest teapot out and make it part of an Easter tea party, with your finest cucumber sandwiches. A delight.
Get the recipe: Happy Easter cake
(Image credit: TI Media Limited)
10. Mini Egg chocolate brownie bars
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Wonderfully moist and jolly indulgent, the brownies are topped with a delicious buttercream frosting (you weren't expecting that, were you?) and are entirely enveloped in chocolate – plus a little row of Mini Eggs, because it would be rude not to.
Get the recipe: Mini Egg chocolate brownie bars
11. Simnel cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 3 hours
One for the more serious of bakers, this is the most iconic of all Easter bakes. For the uninitiated, simnel cake offers a nod to the true meaning of Easter, as it is topped with exactly 11 marzipan balls to represent the twelve apostles, minus Judas – he doesn't get one for his betrayal of Jesus.
You'll need to be a fan of marzipan to truly appreciate the joys of a simnel cake - it's not only the topping, but there's a layer baked inside – and this step-by-step recipe guides you through.
Get the recipe: Simnel cake
12. Hot croissant ring cake
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 35 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
Using shop-bought croissant dough, you'll need to get your hands on a bundt ring, in which this cake will rise triumphantly, producing the perfect breakfast for a bank holiday weekend. Served warm in slices (or even toasted), it’s a delight at breakfast time over the Easter bank holiday.
You don’t even have to add toppings because it has jam, spices, and raisins hiding inside. A spot-on way to start the day. One of our favourite Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Hot croissant ring cake
13. Hot cross buns
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 15-20 mins
"Hotcrossbuns are made with a rich, sweet dough. They taste great, but this also means the dough can take longer to rise than one made without butter, sugar and eggs. Give your dough time to rise - around an hour and a half once kneaded," says baker Rhiannon Abbott of The Epsom Bakehouse, who runs classes teaching people to make their own hot cross buns.
While most people opt for the shop-bought variety, you'll have your baking credentials massively upped by serving them homemade this Easter. Delicious straight out of the oven with a little – or a lot of – butter.
Get the recipe: How to make hot cross buns
14. Blueberry hot cross buns
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 40 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Once you've mastered the art of basic hot cross buns you can play with the flavours. These blueberry hot cross buns will make a lovely breakfast treat on Easter Sunday.
"The crosses on hot cross buns are usually a flour and water paste piped on before baking. But you could also try piping crosses using icing sugar and water paste once the buns are baked and cooled," says Rhiannon Abbott. The whole blueberries reduce down slightly when baked but still add a fruity twist.
Get the recipe: Blueberry hot cross buns
15. Lisa Faulkner’s choc chip hot cross buns
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
Because chocolate goes with everything, we are big fans of this pimped-up hot cross bun recipe by Lisa Faulkner. The choc chips replace the usual raisins (though you could always add both).
We're sure the Celebrity Masterchef winner and her chef hubby John Torode will be sitting down to a freshly baked batch of them, dripping with butter, this Easter weekend, as will we. Put the kettle on, will you?
Get the recipe: Lisa Faulkner's choc chip hot cross buns
16. Vegan hot cross buns
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 45 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
Because why should vegans miss out on all the Easter indulgence? Using soya milk and vegan margarine in place of butter, you wouldn't even know these hot cross buns are entirely free of egg and dairy-free. Moist and delicious, they're warmly spiced with fresh lemon and currants (though you could swap those out for dark chocolate chips if you fancy) and are most delicious fresh out of the oven.
Get the recipe: Vegan hot cross buns
17. Chocolate hot cross bun bread and butter pudding
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 50 mins
There's a glut of chocolate and a glut of hot cross buns around the house at this time of year, so this is a smart way of using them all up and creating a fancy pudding. You soak the buns in a creamy, homemade custard, and can scatter them over either dark choc chips or pieces of smashed-up Easter egg.
Make sure you save plenty of room after your Easter Sunday roast because this ain't a light dessert. We're sure you'll power on through though.
Get the recipe: Chocolate hot cross bun bread and butter pudding
18. Hot cross bun cupcakes
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
"This is a great recipe to do with young children, they can help stir the mixture and have a go at spooning it into the cases," says Ruth Chubb. It's also a good recipe for adults who don't fancy their chances with a home-made hot cross bun, with none of the hassle of all that proving and rising. The crosses are easier too, made from strips of marzipan. Sssh, don't tell the traditionalists but we think they're every bit as good as the real deal.
Get the recipe: Hot cross bun cupcakes
19. Hot cross bun loaf
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 4 hours
"Who doesn’t love home-baked bread?" says Ruth Chubb. "Plus using hands in this recipe to knead the dough is great for children’s sensory development." So get the kids on board to make this hot cross bun loaf, a great recipe for a Bank Holiday when you've got plenty time to potter about. It's great for breakfast, spread with butter and jam – we find apricot works particularly well, but there are no rules.
Get the recipe: Hot cross bun loaf
20. Easter bread
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 30 mins
This tasty recipe is made with cinnamon and orange zest and topped with colourful eggs. You'll also impress your guests with your culinary cultural know-how – because this sweet bread is what the Greeks eat at Easter. Known as Tsoureki, there are lots of versions of this bread, and it can be iced, or covered in sesame seeds – or even multi-coloured sprinkles.
Get the recipe: Easter bread
(Image credit: TI Media limited)
21. Easter nests
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: No bake
"If you've had too much chocolate over Easter and want to use it up, this is perfect and an easy one for little ones. You will need to melt the chocolate but they can mix it all together and spoon it into the cases," says Ruth Chubb. The Shredded Wheat makes the nests look particularly, well, nesty, but these can, of course, also be made with cornflakes or rice krispies. One of the most popular Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Easter nests
22. Mini Egg chocolate meringue nests
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 1 hr 30 mins
A gluten-free dessert, sure to put a smile on the faces of anyone with an intolerance, these crisp and gooey meringue nests are a kooky, unusual pudding for your Easter table. Mastering your own meringue is nothing as tricky as you might imagine, either. Top with the classic Mini Eggs or take it one step further and top with gooey Creme Eggs instead. Or both, because there are no rules.
Get the recipe: Mini Egg chocolate meringue nests
(Image credit: TI Media)
23. Chocolate bread and butter pudding
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 35 mins
For a really filling, comforting pud, classic bread and butter pudding is always a winner - but then along comes Essentials magazine's recipe for chocolate bread and butter pudding. Best made the day before to let everything soak in and become seriously flavoursome, this dessert can be served with ice cream, thick pouring cream, or the classic custard – heck, hardy chocoholics could even be bold enough to go for a chocolate custard.
Get the recipe: Chocolate bread and butter pudding
24. Easter rocky road
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: No-bake
"No oven required for this one, the kids will have fun bashing up the biscuits and squashing it all together, using any leftover Easter chocolate," says Ruth Chubb. Made with the usual sultanas and marshmallows, as well as fudge and shortbread, but with added Mini Eggs for a seasonal twist. This fridge cake takes a mere 20 minutes to put together, but you'll have to exercise patience while it spends a few hours chilling before you get stuck in.
Get the recipe: Easter rocky road
25. Chocolate cornflake nests
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 45 mins | Cook time: No-bake
An oldie but a goody, you can't really go wrong with a chocolate cornflake cake, especially when it provides a nest for some pretty pastel-coloured mini eggs. Melted chocolate and cereal are such a simple but wonderful combination. Older kids could go independent on these and make them for the rest of the family (with a wee bit of background supervision while they do the melting) - just make sure they don't eat it all in the process.
Get the recipe: Chocolate cornflake nests
26. Creme Egg brownies
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
These Easter egg brownies smoosh (isn't that a great word?) Creme Eggs and mini eggs into slightly undercooked brownies before you stick them back in the oven for them all to melt together. 'The kids will love this one, breaking up the Creme Egg to squash into the nearly cooked brownie. Once out of the oven, all you need is a spoon!" says Ruth Chubb. So messy, like a lot of the best things are. One of our favourite Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Creme Egg brownies
27. Creme egg cupcakes
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
These chocolate cupcakes are really easy to make and seriously moreish. For Easter, decorate them with mini Creme Eggs – or you could use Smarties, Maltesers, Flakes, or any other topping you please if you're making them for kid's birthday parties at another time of the year. "This is great one for children to practice hand-eye coordination with their piping skills," says Ruth Chubb.
Get the recipe: Creme egg cupcakes
28. Easter chocolate torte
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 40 mins
Putting us in mind the sort of sweet treat you might get in a Viennese coffee house, this stunning torte is made with ground almonds, breadcrumbs, marzipan, double cream, and chocolate, and decorated with foil-wrapped mini eggs.
It's made with apricot jam, but you could switch this to a different flavour of yours. We feel this one simply must be served with a strong and sophisticated coffee while reading a book or making your way through the Sunday papers.
Get the recipe: Easter chocolate torte
29. Chocolate orange liqueur Easter cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 45 mins | Cook time: 1 hour
A rather, posher, more adult bake than a lot of offerings on the Easter treat front, this chocolate orange Easter cake recipe is reminiscent of an Austrian sachertorte. It makes good use of Cointreau (though this could be swapped in for a coffee or almond liqueur for a totally different take) and is topped with extra chocolate (of course) and a chocolatey nest. Beautiful, and decadent. Maybe a shot of Cointreau on the side? It is a Bank holiday, after all.
Get the recipe: Chocolate orange Easter cake
30. Truffle cake
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 35 mins
Chocolate cake, covered in chocolate and topped with more chocolate? Sure. Bit of a showstopper this one, and ideal for dark chocolate lovers. As much as we love Mini Eggs, there are a lot of them around at this time of year, so this cake is mixing things up a bit by using cocoa-dusted truffles as a rather more fancy topping. You could always mix and add different chocs from your Easter box too. One of our favourite Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Chocolate truffle cake
31. Easter gingerbread cottage
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 2 hrs 15 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Could this Easter gingerbread cottage be any more adorable? We'd quite like to move in, given half a chance. Sure, gingerbread houses are traditionally popular around Christmas, but we're all for tearing up the rule book, and this cottage has been given a spring clean. So, make like Hansel and Gretel, bake up some gingerbread, and turn it into the cutest house you've ever seen.
Get the recipe: Easter gingerbread cottage
32. Chunky Mini Egg cookies
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 10 mins
Roll up those sleeves and get creative with your Mini Eggs. These delicious, buttery cookies can be made in minutes and eaten as soon as they come out of the oven. There are crushed Mini Eggs in the cookie dough, and you'll be wanting extras to decorate the top. The best thing of all is that if you scoff them warm from the oven, the Mini Eggs will be a little bit gooey. And all the better if you crumble them up over some vanilla ice cream.
Get the recipe: Chunky Mini Egg cookies
33. Easter egg biscuits
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
The ultimate recipe for easy baking with the kids, whip up a batch of these very easy Easter egg biscuits and let them go crazy with the icing pens. You could also add sprinkles, edible glitter, or whatever they fancy – there are no rules. These could be good ones to give out as little Easter gifts to friends and family, in a decorative box, all tied up with spring-coloured ribbons in yellow, pink, and pale blue.
Get the recipe: Easter egg biscuits
34. Easter vanilla cupcakes
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 25 mins
Striking but simple, these vanilla Easter cupcakes make the perfect base for whatever seasonal decorations you wish to try out on top. They also have a mere five ingredients, so manageable to even the most amateur of bakers. Add a few drops of food colouring to make pretty pastel icings to be piped on the top. Gorgeous additions to any special occasion, not just for Easter.
Get the recipe: Easter vanilla cupcakes
35. Orange and elderflower cupcakes
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 30 mins
A touch of floral essence brings a lovely spring taste to your bakes, this orange and elderflower cupcakes recipe is the perfect base for an Easter-themed topper. We've used orange sugar pearls, yellow hundreds and thousands and white flower paste to top them, and orange zest, orange juice, and elderflower cordial in the cakes. Delightful, aren't they?
Get the recipe: Orange and elderflower cupcakes
36. Spring meadow biscuits
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 35 mins | Cook time: 15 mins
These pretty little biscuits make the perfect project to do with the kids during the Easter holidays. Decorate them in any colour combination you fancy. Using ready-to-roll icing and cookie cutters, in both flower and butterfly shapes, they look fancy but are pleasingly simple. Pop them in a decorative tin, or pop in a Kilner jar and give them out as presents.
Get the recipe: Spring meadow biscuits
37. Easter egg hunt cupcakes
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 1 hr | Cook time: 30 mins
Take your garden egg hunt to the next level by making our Easter egg hunt cupcakes, complete with arrows and written instructions in icing to help little hunters find their eggs.
"All kids love an Easter egg hunt but it is always over so quickly! I love this idea as you can make the cupcakes with your kids, write out the signs that you want to put on the cakes and get the kids to decorate them. Send them off and set up the Easter egg hunt – a perfect rainy day activity," says Ruth Chubb. One of our favourite Easter cake ideas.
Get the recipe: Easter egg hunt cupcakes
38. Spiced Easter cookies
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 3o mins | Cook time: 15 mins
Instead of giving Easter eggs this year, you could always bake these spiced Easter cookies – great for anyone suffering with chocolate fatigue (if, indeed, there is such a person). Baked with mixed spice – or cinnamon if you prefer – they're cheap to make, using standard baking ingredients, so you just need cookie cutters and coloured icing to decorate. Make bunnies, eggs and spring lamb shapes. Cute and tasty.
Get the recipe: Spiced Easter cookies
39. Kirstie Allsopp's Easter biscuits
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 4o mins | Cook time: 10 mins
She might be best known for finding properties for folk on the telly, but Kirstie Allsopp is also a crafty type and loves a good bake. A fun one to make with the kids, her Easter biscuits couldn't be more simple and you can follow along with her step-by-step video as she shows you how. Use tubes of coloured icing and glitter and any other decorative bits you fancy.
Get the recipe: Kirstie Allsopp's Easter biscuits
40. Easter bunny cupcakes
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 1 hour | Cook time: 25 mins
How professional do these bunny cupcakes look? Worthy of a place on any bakery counter, these cute treats are actually easy to make at home. Topped with a super delicious buttercream, our step-by-step recipe shows you how to make the decoration with just a few pieces of ready-to-roll fondant. And you want to know how to perfect those rabbit whiskers? They're actually made from Chinese rice noodles. Brilliant.
Get the recipe: Easter bunny cupcakes
41. Easter chick cupcakes
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 50 mins | Cook time: 30 mins
How cute are these little fellas? We're not sure we can actually bring ourselves to eat them. Our Easter chick cupcakes are topped with a cute fondant topper that is actually really easy to make, but doesn't look it in the slightest – the kids will love assembling their little faces. Definitely, one to gift to friends, to show off your clever fondant skills - they'll be an Easter talking point, for sure.
Get the recipe: Easter chick cupcakes
42. Vanilla and poppy seed cupcake with lemon icing
Skill level: Easy | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins
Our lemon and poppy seed cupcakes will be a big hit with the kids, thanks to the little birds' nests and chicks on top. The zesty lemon icing is made from just icing sugar and lemon juice. Grate over the lemon zest, add crumbled chocolate flakes and Easter-themed toppings, and arrange them on your finest cake plate as part of a Bank Holiday tea party.
Get the recipe: Lemon and poppy seed cupcakes
43. Sheep cake pops
Skill level: Medium | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: No-bake
The sweetest of cake pops, both to eat and to look at. Use licorice buttons for the sheep's heads and white candy melts for their fur and, with all that energy needed for decorating, you can keep the cake simple by buying one ready-made and shaping it into ovals. It's a tad fiddly but so worth it. Just make sure you don't eat them all before you've had a chance to show them off.
Get the recipe: Sheep cake pops
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